This is my first official post, hooray! I'm doing my best to get ready for Guatemala...writing a support letter, telling people that I'm going, thinking about it, praying about it, filling out paperwork. Will I ever actually get there? Life slows down for nothing and no one. It's definitely exciting though! My journey to Guatemala has come from years of thinking, praying, and other trips that I went on through high school and college. I was able to go on mission trips to the Bahamas and Toronto with the youth group at First Bible, the Dominican Republic with my high school senior class, and another trip to Moldova with First Bible in college. I knew I wanted to spend some time serving in a different country after I graduated, and after working at Pine Cove and Gull Lake I knew I wanted to work with kids. I started looking for opportunities sometime around my senior year at Samford. I've emailed and talked with tons of missions organizations over the past couple of years. After I graduated in 2006, I spent a year up at Gull Lake and loved it. It was my first real job and I was so blessed to be able to do it! I moved back to Alabama at the end of August to pursue the missions/children's home thing again. I was able to spend a week in Guatemala with the Cokers in September(what a huge blessing they were!!!), and since then I've been working towards going back. I've finally been accepted as an intern with Kids Alive International in Guatemala!! I'll be at a home for girls that I visited during my trip in September. The Lord's timing is the best, and I guess now is when He wants me to go! I'm leaving sometime in the end of January...no date yet...but I am going! I'll be back in mid-May. I'm nervous and excited and a little antsy and still not fully comprehending that I am really going. I can't wait to get to know the girls. I'm so excited about getting to know the Lord in a different culture. I'm nervous about going to a new place...again. I know the Lord will be faithful and provide people, encouragement, and all the little things I need, but I'm also nervous about leaving relationships behind once again. I've been amazingly blessed with opportunities to work and serve and make wonderful relationships all over the country, but no matter where I am, I am away from someone I love. This can be so draining. I am forced to trust Him and ask for help. I praise God for this!!
I'm starting this blog in hopes that I'll use it when I'm in Guatemala, and if people want to they can read about what's going on and pray. I will need prayer, this I know for sure! I'm slowly finding out what I'll be doing there, but I think I'm going to be working with the younger girls(preschool age). I also hope to be an extra hand for the staff and house parents to make their lives a little easier. I don't know much, but I know that the Lord is big and He knows what He's doing and He'll give me what I need when I need it. He has always been faithful and always will be!
I guess I'll wrap this up for today. Happy New Year!
"O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." Isaiah 25:1
